


Misadventures of a Teenage Ghost Boy

by GamerKun0525



Category: Original Work
Genre: Afterlife, Ghosts, Have a teenager become a ghost and what does he do?, Main character is a ghost, Schenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamerKun0525/pseuds/GamerKun0525
Summary: The human race has a lot of varying opinions on what happens when you die…Most think you get taken to some place to meet your maker.Some think everything just goes black and poof! Nothing else.Others think that you come back as something else, something that shows how karma haunts you.What they don’t know is, when you die, you just… wake up.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you for deciding to read this! This is my first time posting so I hope you enjoy! I'd like to thank my friends for beta reading this and helping me make it look nice.

Cole Barton awoke with a jolt and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Another day,” he thinks to himself as he stands up and stretches with a yawn, making his spine pop in a few places. “I really need to find more comfortable places to sleep instead of rooftops,” he mumbles as he fluffs up his bedhead and turns invisible to look over the railing on the roof. 

“Where should I go…” He says as he glances up and down the street and spots a secluded alleyway between two buildings. “Perfect,” he says with a grin as he pushes off the railing and starts to float in the air above the people walking below. “Even after three years that feeling is still a rush.” Cole lands with a small laugh behind a dumpster and lets himself become visible again.

“Alright. Time to see what I can get up to today!” The teen grins as he pulls out his wallet and sees that he has enough for a smoothie. His face brightens as he pulls his hood up and walks down the sidewalk towards the local café.

The Steamed Bean Café is a quaint little shop that not a lot of people in Willowdale frequent; it has just enough traffic that Cole can go in on occasion without the employees thinking of him as a regular, but something was different today. As soon as Cole walks in, he feels a familiar chill run up his spine. He wasn’t the only imposter here. 

As he waits in line, deciding what flavor he wants today, he let his eyes scan around the café—-not a lot of people, but just enough that he’s having trouble narrowing down the source. He is looking around so much he almost misses that the line has disappeared. “Welcome to the Steamed Bean! What can I get you?” the nice barista says to him, she’s not wearing a name tag but Cole recalls her name being Amy.

“Uh... Can I get a strawberry and watermelon smoothie? Don’t think I’ve tried that combo yet,” Cole replies, still looking around at the other customers.

“Certainly sir!” Cole pays for his drink and decides to wait by the counter, pushing his hood back thinking he’ll be alright.

“Oh um, sir?” Cole looks up to see the barista looking at him.

“Yes? Am I in the way?” Cole made to move closer to the corner.

“No sir I just wanted to compliment your hair! I’ve never seen a white hair dye that bright before!”

Oh. “T-Thank you! I don’t get many compliments on it actually, been told it’s uh... too bright.” Cole smiles and thanks the woman again when she gives him his drink. “...Should have told her it was ghastly white.” Cole thought as he remembered what he was doing, looking for the other imposter. He scans the cafe again, and this time his eyes land on an older woman in a very nice looking black dress, wearing sunglasses and long black gloves, sitting at a table alone sipping tea while reading some magazine.

Cole walked over to the woman with a smile on his face and smoothie in hand. “Excuse me, miss.”

She glances up at him and Cole sees her eyebrows raise just a little bit. “Yes? Can I help you?”

“I was just wondering if you don’t mind me sitting with you, I’d feel bad taking up a table by myself.”

After a moment, she closes her magazine and he smiles. “I was just starting to think it was a bit lonely sitting here by myself.”

Cole takes the seat across from her and takes a gulp of his smoothie. “Might I ask you something…”

“Oh! Cole, and yes you may, Miss...” This time Cole is the one to trail off.

He offers the woman a handshake and she returns it. “Elizabeth, but I wanted to ask, how did someone like you get the money to buy a drink?” She has a small mischievous smile on her face that made Cole want to laugh.

“Well if you must know, being dead can lead to some very good opportunities for pranks, and maybe someone loses a couple bills from his wallet he thinks he misplaced...” Cole shrugs and sips his drink.

“Might I ask how long you’ve been—”

“Three years, give or take. I’d ask you, but I do know it’s rude to ask a woman her age.” Cole smiles when he hears Elizabeth laugh a little behind her hand. This was going better than usual, most of the time people don’t want to talk about this kind of thing in public.

“Well aren’t you a charming young man. Is this quiet town your place of rest?”

“Yes ma’am it is. Where’s yours?”

“Oh, nowhere, child, I’ve traveled the world in my after days. Much more fun than staying in one place don’t you think?”

Cole thinks for a moment. “I quite like the calm atmosphere Willowdale has to it, it helps with trying to figure some things out, you know?” Cole is startled out of his thoughts when he feels the woman rest her hand on his.

“I do understand that. Don’t worry child, this will all make sense eventually.” Cole returns the kind smile she is giving him.

“Thank you, Miss Elizabeth.” There is a small moment of silence between the two.

“Say, Cole, might I ask a favor for a young man such as yourself?”

“Yes?”

“I was hoping to have someone walk me around town and show me the best little shops and boutiques before I head on my way in the morning, would you care to join me?”

Cole smiles, unable to think of any better way to spend the day, “Miss Elizabeth, I think that’s a wonderful idea, shall we?”

“Strawberry and watermelon... Better than I thought it would turn out.” Cole says as he finishes his drink and throws it away in a trash can, “Well Miss?” Cole does the gentlemanly thing of offering his arm to the older woman.

“I do hope you won’t show this old ghost anywhere too dangerous, now,” Elizabeth responds as she takes his arm, making Cole chuckle.

“I’d never dream of it, besides, what’s the worst that can happen? Not like either of us can die a second time, right?” He whispers as they walk down the sidewalk.

The two spend a nice day window shopping, with Cole carrying more than a few shopping bags for the kind old woman, and before either of them know it, the sun begins to set and Cole walks Elizabeth to where she is staying. “I suppose this is goodbye,” Cole says. “I hope I showed you the best things Willowdale has to offer.”

Elizabeth smiles. “Yes young man you did. I dare say this town has as much charm as the biggest cities, if you know where to look for it. Here.” She hands Cole an envelope.

“Hm? What’s this? A confession letter?” Cole grins when the old woman laughs.

“No dear, it’s a thank you for spending time with an old soul like me today, but don’t open it here.” She smiles softly. “Thank you for making me feel a bit younger today.”

“It was no trouble. Thank you for whatever is in this,” He shakes the envelope a little, “But I should be going, have a nice night.” He leaves with a wave and smile that Elizabeth returns before going inside the inn.

Cole gently lowers onto the roof of an office building and leans against the railing as he opens up the envelope, “Did she... What a sweet lady.” Inside is two hundred and fifty dollars with a small note in it as well. Cole looks at the note and in pretty cursive handwriting is ‘Come and see me if you’re ever in Ghost Town. Things will get easier, I promise. - Elizabeth Marigold’

Cole still doesn’t have everything figured out with this whole being dead thing, but he thinks that maybe Miss Marigold is right, he’ll have it all figured out eventually. After all, a ghost has all the time in the world!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the love on Chapter 1! I hope you all like Chapter 2 as well!

Cole smiles as he lays atop a bus on its way to Willowdale High School, letting the Autumn breeze wash over him. He slowly begins to feel himself fall asleep when the bus goes over a bump and nearly bounces him right off the roof. “Well that feels weird being on top of it instead of inside,” he thinks as he sits up to see the school coming into view as the bus gets closer.

The young ghost hears the students in the bus murmuring and decides to have a listen. Sticking his head through the ceiling he is above a pair of football players, one of whom is currently only half listening to his teammate because he is giving a girl in a cheerleader uniform some very interesting faces. Gross, but the girl is at least laughing.

“Jessie! Focus man! I need help with this algebra shit if I’m gonna play in the game tonight.” The other player says with an elbow to his buddy’s side, making Jessie turn to face him.

“You actually think I use my brain to solve that stuff, Tony? Hell no. I have the internet for that!” Jessie says before turning around to look at the cheerleader again, who is now too engrossed in her chat with the girls around her to notice.

“Football game tonight, huh?” Cole says to himself after he pulls his head out from the bus, “That should be pretty fun to watch.” He thinks as the bus pulls into the parking lot. As students walk off the bus, Cole notices in the parking lot some seniors hanging out by a sports car, “Probably one of their dad’s cars.” Cole thinks while rolling his eyes and floating above the students to get into the school.

Cole notices Tony and Jessie walking towards a classroom and decides that they’re the ones he’ll follow today. “Hey man, I’ll catch up with you in a few, gonna go see if Vanessa wants to go to get dinner after the game!” Jessie says with a knowing wink before running off.

“Maybe it’ll be fun to watch him get denied.” Cole thinks as he follows Jessie down the hallway over towards the cheerleader from before talking with a guy with glasses carrying a couple textbooks.

“Hey Vanessa! Doing anything after the game tonight?” the football player says with a flirty tone.

“Oh hi Jessie! After the game? Evan promised he’d help me with my science homework after! We’re gonna go to the diner if you wanna join us?” Vanessa says before closing her locker and taking the books Evan was holding for her from him.

“You’re hanging out with this loser?” Jessie says while looking at Evan. Cole debates untying Jessie’s shoes, before hearing Evan laugh.

“Whatever Jessie, I know you’ll probably ask me for help on the same homework on Sunday night.” Evan replies giving Jessie a not amused look.

“And I know you’ll help me cause that’s what friends are for! You know you’re not a loser.” Jessie says back with a teasing grin. 

“But you do know you’re an ass sometimes.” Evan dryly replies making Jessie and Vanessa laugh.

“Anyways, sure I’ll join you guys after the game. Maybe I’ll see if Tony wants to go too, he was complaining about some algebra homework on the bus.”

As Cole watches the three of them he can almost see a literal bond of friendship between them, but he gets the feeling there’s some more serious feelings under the surface. Not that he cares about others' love lives when his isn’t alive anymore. Heh.

“Hey is it cold in here to anyone else?” Vanessa asks but before either boy can answer, the bell rings letting students know they have five minutes before class, “Oh shoot! I gotta go! See you at lunch boys!” Vanessa before she heads off to class.

“Ugh I don’t wanna go to class.” Jessie grumbles before he and Evan walk into a classroom nearby, Cole glances at the plaque on the wall outside the door and sees it’s history class first.

After a few classes that Cole honestly thinks had people deader than he is teaching them, lunch time rolls around. He may have dozed off in whatever math class was going on and lost track of Jess for a few minutes but he found him heading out to the parking lot with Vanessa and Evan.

“So where should we have our driver take us for lunch today?” Jessie asks Vanessa while looking at Evan who just snorts in response.

“Hmm…” Vanessa thinks, “I wouldn’t mind going to that nice coffee shop nearby! Maybe get a nice breakfast sandwich. I’m gonna need an iced coffee to keep me awake.”

“I swear, girls seem to just live off coffee.” Evan says as he gets in the driver’s seat, Vanessa sits in the passenger seat, and Jessie is stuck in the backseat. And none of them have any idea they have an uninvited guest tagging along.

“I guess I could get a smoothie.” Cole thinks to himself as he follows the car. As he follows, a thought crosses his mind, he likes how nice spending time with people, almost like they’re his—No. They’re not his friends. He’s just a spirit following people around. “I’m just gonna get my smoothie, then leave. Why I even thought this was a good idea is stupid.” Cole is so in his head he doesn’t realize he nearly misses The Steamed Bean and he only snaps back to reality just before he flies through Evan’s car, barely catching himself.

Cole zips past the car and into an alley to go visible again, taking a second to calm down before walking out just to see Evan’s car park and the three friends get out. Just go in. Sit down. Enjoy the smoothie and leave is what Cole is telling himself as he walks towards the door, only to hear the sound of fast walking behind him and as he opens the door he glances back to see Vanessa almost running towards him and on reflex Cole slides back and holds the door open.

“Thanks!” Vanessa says as she jogs towards the back of the shop.

“Why she couldn’t have gone to the bathroom before we left school is beyond me.” Evan says as he gives Cole a quick thanks for holding the door.

“The ladies just seem to always have to go at the worst time. I don’t know. Oh I got it.” Jessie says holding the door for Cole.

“Thanks.” Cole responds and walks into the shop and gets in line, Evan and Jessie letting him go in front of them since they’re waiting for Vanessa. The line isn’t very long and Cole orders his drink and pays. When he gets his smoothie, he finds a table and takes a sip. “Orange dreamsicle. Have I had this before?” Cole thinks before hearing the trio talking about classes as they take a table by the window near him.

“I don’t wanna go back to school, would y’all be mad if I just ditched?” Jessie asks his friends before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“No way! I am not getting in trouble because you decided to not go back to class!” Vanessa says while putting some cream in her latte.

“Me neither.” Evan responds, also drinking a smoothie, “Besides you have gym later.”

Jessie groans as he slumps in his chair, “Shit you’re right. Never play sports Evan. They suck.” Evan just smiles and pats his head.

“Don’t worry Jessie, I am perfectly fine watching you make a fool of yourself on the field.” Jessie just groans again and stuff a chip in his mouth.

Cole pulls out his phone, a cheap flip one he paid like 30 dollars for. He only uses it to take pictures of cool stuff he finds. A lot of stray cats. He takes another sip of his drink when his thoughts are interrupted. “Hey!” Cole looks up to see Vanessa looking over at him.

Cole looks around a little, “Uh, are you talking to me?” He points to himself.

“Yeah! Do you wanna come sit with us? You look kinda lonely, plus you held the door for me so you’re cool!” Vanessa smiles.

“Uh. S-Sure.” Cole gets up and takes the empty seat with the trio.

“I’m Vanessa, this is Evan, and the baby inhaling his food through his fake tears is Jessie. What’s your name?” Vanessa asks with a small tilt of her head as she drinks her coffee.

“I’m Cole.” Oh how Cole very much wants to phase through the floor.

“I haven’t seen you around, you don’t go to our school I’m guessing? Pretty sure I would have seen somebody with hair as white and cool as yours, what products do you use?” Vanessa leans in a little and Cole stiffens when the cheerleader’s hand is in his hair, “Wow it’s so fluffy!”

“T-Thanks um, I honestly just use normal shampoo.” Cole is just focused on the fact someone has their hand in his hair.

“Vans.” Jessie says finally sitting up, “Quit playing with his hair, don’t think he likes a stranger doing that. Even if it’s a cute girl.”

“Oh that’s a good point, sorry! I’m used to these two wanting me to do that when they’re trying to sleep.” She says sticking her tongue out at Jessie. “So you homeschooled?” She says turning her attention back to Cole.

“Huh? Oh uh yeah. My parents wanted to give it a shot for the year, something about worrying I’d ‘fall into the wrong crowd of high school’ or some nonsense.” Cole smiles a little when Vanessa laughs. She bought it, but then she shivered.

“Man I keep getting cold for some reason, I hope I’m not getting sick.” She put her own hand to her forehead, “I don’t feel warm...” She says to herself.

“Hey guys? We should probably go soon.” Evan says looking at his phone to check the time.

“Alright, it was nice meeting you, Cole!” Vanessa says, “Oh hey! There’s a football game tonight, you should come! Don’t worry, Evan will make sure you stay in the right crowd.”

“Um...” Cole thought about it. He should say no. He should say his parents wanted him to do something at home. Say no. “Sure I’d be happy to go! Never been to a game actually, sports aren’t really my thing but more friends is nice!”

Vanessa smiled, “Yay! Oh here.” She grabs a napkin and writes on it, “Here’s my number! Get there early and text me and I’ll get you in for free!”

Cole looks at the napkin, “Thanks, Vanessa.” He looks at the boys as they start to get up, “Oh it was nice meeting you guys too!”

“Yeah.” Jessie finishes his chips, “Sorry I’m just tired.”

“And it takes Evan a bit to warm up to new people.” Vanessa says with a wink.

“It does not! I was just looking over what to quiz you both on when we go out to eat after the game tonight!” Both Jessie and Vanessa’s faces drop. “You can come with us to that too if you want Cole, if your parents won’t mind.” Evan offers.

“I’ll convince them.” Cole says watching the three leave after saying their goodbyes. He finishes his smoothie and walks outside to see their car leave.

“It’s just one football game.” Cole tells himself as he walks in the opposite direction down the sidewalk. “Having a bit of fun with people my age can’t kill me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed Cole meeting some actually living people!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Trying to fit in all the details I wanted was tough.

“Meow!” the stray cat Cole is currently sharing french fries with says as it begs for another.

“Alright, alright Mr. Greedy.” Cole chuckles, giving it another small fry before snapping a picture of it while it eats. “Think I should send this to Vanessa?” He asks the fluffy black and white creature, but is instead ignored. “Some help you are.” Cole shakes his head and sends the picture.

“I made a friend with the power of french fries!” As soon as he hits send he realizes he hasn’t texted her before and quickly adds another text saying it’s him.

“Awww! What a cute kitty!” Vanessa says in her reply message, adding a second reminding Cole about the game tonight.

“I’ll be there!” Cole sends back before checking the time, school should be out in a few minutes. “Is it okay if I come to the school now? Been just hanging out with this cat for a while.”

“Sure! We can hang out before me and Jessie have practice!” Cole smiles a little and tells Vanessa he’s on his way before heading off to the school.

Cole walks up to the school, passing by students excitedly talking about the game later. He guesses the team must be good this year if that’s all they have to talk about. Cole has his hood up to hide his hair, he can’t have random people stopping him to compliment it. Vanessa told him they’d be by her locker, which is close to the science lab, so now Cole has to search for the science lab. Heading to where he spied on the trio before, he walks down the hallway but stops when he passes a big glass case, backing up so he is in front of it.

Cole briefly wonders if this is a trophy case before seeing the word “Memorial” in big gold letters on the inside. The ghost boy starts to turn away before he can’t resist and looks at the people’s school pictures in the case searching for one specific person. Cole’s eyes widen a little when they find the picture he’s looking for, brown hair, blue eyes, and a smile that only cared about which test he had on what day. Cole lets out a small shaky breath, thumbs away a tear, and turns away from the case and goes to find the trio. “Least they don’t have my name on it.” He thinks while walking.

The ghost boy turns the corner and he sees the three students talking with a couple other people in cheerleading and football uniforms, he only recognizes Tony from the bus that morning. Cole debates waiting for them to finish talking, but then Jessie notices him and gestures to come over, which Cole does trying to be as casual as possible about it. It’s gonna be a long day, he thinks. “Hey guys.” Cole says with a slight wave.

“Hey man.” Jessie says offering a fist bump, which Cole returns after the split second it takes him to remember what that is.

“Cole! This is my cheer teammate Olivia, her boyfriend Trent, he’s also the quarterback, and this is Jessie’s friend Tony.” Vanessa introduces, “Guys this is Cole, the guy we met at the coffee shop during lunch!”

“Hey is it true your hair is white? I can’t tell with your hood up.” Olivia asks, leaning in a little to try and see.

“Oh uh, yeah. It is.” Cole stammers a little, leaning back a little when Olivia leans close before pushing his hood back, “I don’t get why everyone likes my hair so much.” Cole says, feeling a little embarrassed.

“It’s just cool!” Jessie says draping an arm around Cole’s shoulders.

“Vanessa said you dyed it?” Tony asks.

“Yeah. I ended up doing it myself in my bathroom.” Cole laughs, “Never seen my dad so mad.” In Cole’s mind he’s remembering when his dad walked in on him putting a streak of red dye in his hair, it’s funny to look back on now even though it hurts a little to think about.

“Damn it looks great for doing it yourself! What’s your natural color?” Olivia asks after putting a piece of gum in her mouth.

“It’s brown, kinda boring I know.” Cole chuckles.

“You said you’re homeschooled right?” Trent says, surprising Cole with how deep his voice is.

“Yep! Mom and Dad wanted me to take a year to get used to the town.” Cole says back, messing with the string on his hoodie.

“That must suck.” Trent started when suddenly the bell rings and an announcement plays letting students know it’s time for their after school programs. “Ah crap! We gotta go guys. See you during the game, babe.” Trent says giving Olivia a quick kiss on the cheek before quickly leaving with Jessie and Tony.

“They do realize we’re all going the same way right?” Vanessa says looking at Olivia who just blows a gum bubble in response. “You’re really getting good at that by the way.”

Olivia sucks the bubble back in, “Thanks, guess we should start heading to the field huh?”

“I guess.” Vanessa answers with false annoyance, “Don’t worry Cole, between my two boys, Evan is the more responsible one. You’re in great hands!” She says giggling as her and Olivia head off to the field. 

Cole watches the two run off and looks at Evan, wondering if he was gonna start heading to the field too. Instead, Evan is looking down at a piece of paper on top of his books and when Cole glances over, it was Jessie’s homework. “What are you doing?” Cole finally asks after a few minutes of waiting in silence.

“Checking the math homework Jessie gave me, whatever he got wrong we’re gonna go over at the diner after the game.” Evan finally looks up and he blinks when he just sees Cole. “Did everyone already leave? I didn’t hear the bell.”

“Oh yeah they left a couple minutes ago, but I’m in no rush, take your time.” Cole smiles a little.

“Thanks.” Evan replies, pulling out a pencil and circling some of the problems on Jessie’s paper. “I was kinda surprised Vanessa asked you to sit with us at that coffee shop today.”

“I guess it is weird to ask a stranger to sit with you.” Cole laughs, thinking he wouldn’t have asked someone to do that.

“Not just that, Vanessa can be on the quiet side a lot of the time. It’s why we get along so well.” Evan finishes marking Jessie’s paper. “It means she thinks you’re cool. I personally think you’re a bit on the mysterious side, but if she’s cool with you. I am too.”

“And Jessie?” Cole asks, wondering about the other guy in the trio.

“Jessie... He’s the one that gets me and Vanessa out of our shells. He can be loud, and kind of an idiot sometimes, but he has a big heart. He’s actually who got Vanessa to try cheerleading.” Evan says with a warm smile.

“He did? That sounds like a story I’d like to hear sometime.” Cole smirks.

“You should ask them about it at dinner.” Evan puts the papers into his backpack, “Wanna head to the field?”

“Sure!” Cole replies happily and the two of them make their way to the football field.

Willowdale High School’s football field has a large set of aluminum bleachers on one side of it while on the other side there is a smaller wooden set, most of the time it’s where fans of the away team sit. Cole can’t recall ever attending a football game when he went to school here, his brother had been more of a basketball player. Cole wonders for a moment how Philip is doing before shaking it off and following Evan up to a nice seat in the bleachers. “So uh what should we do while we wait for the game to start?” Cole asks, trying to get comfortable and wishing he could just float instead. Well he could, but he didn’t want to freak Evan out.

“I usually just watch that.” Evan points out to the field where a couple of the football players are throwing a ball around and as soon as the coach blows his whistle, whoever has the ball starts to run down the field and sees how long he can go for before he gets dogpiled by his teammates. The unlucky player this time is Tony, Cole making a note that his jersey says he’s number fourteen.

“Uh what’s this game called? Or training exercise?” Cole asks, looking to see if he can find Jessie, finding him wearing a jersey that has the number twenty-three on it.

“The coach likes to call it ‘Fetch’” Evan says pulling out his phone after looking up at the sky, “Is it going to rain tonight?” He checks the weather on his phone.

“Rain? Like just a small shower?” Cole asks, the hairs on his neck sticking up a little bit at the thought of a heavy pour.

“Looks like a thunderstorm, but it won’t come until later on. We’ll probably all be home by the time it happens.” Evan nonchalantly replies, putting his phone away.

Cole felt his no longer flowing blood run cold. He hated thunderstorms, but he couldn’t let Evan find that out, it’d be weird for a fifteen year old to still be scared of thunder. “That’s good. Would suck to walk home in the rain.” Cole says, trying to fake a calm mind.

“Walk? I can take you home after dinner.” Evan looks at him, “You alright? You look kinda tense.”

“Huh? I think I’m just hungry, no big deal.” Cole shrugs, and the two sit in relative silence, occasionally making jokes about the football players and moving closer to the field as it gets closer to game time and more people show up. Cole keeps a close eye on the sky and biting the inside of his cheek when he sees storm clouds in the distance.

Cole didn't pay much attention to the game itself, between making small talk with Evan and glancing up at the clouds to make sure they weren’t getting close, his mind was pretty much elsewhere. Despite his busy mind, he did manage to catch on to when Jessie’s team was doing well from how the crowd, full of parents and students, reacted.

Eventually the game finishes with Willowdale High School as the winners in a landslide victory. Cole can’t help but smile watching the players celebrating and he follows Evan as he heads down to the field. “Great game guys.” Evan says playfully hitting Jessie on the shoulder.

“Thanks! So Cole, what did ya think? Are we a good team?” Jessie asks, taking a chug of his water bottle.

“You guys were okay, I guess.” Cole shrugs but just smiles, “Kidding, you guys did great.”

“Hell yeah!” Jessie cheers when he just looks Evan in the eye “I’m hungry. Wanna go to the diner?”

“The diner? I could eat!” Trent says throwing an arm over Jessie’s shoulders. Cole notices a big number one in his jersey.

“We were actually going to study, but-” Evan starts to say before he’s cut off by someone jumping on his back.

“Woohoo! We won!” Vanessa cheers while on Evan’s back, ignoring his complaints of not being strong enough to keep her up. “Onward Evan! I’m starving!”

“You did only have coffee for lunch.” Cole points out.

“Oh she did huh?” Olivia says giving Vanessa a look.

“Cole don’t rat me out!” Vanessa cries, “Come on let’s go!”

“I think my spine is going to snap.” Evan grumbles, but manages to carry a laughing Vanessa to her car.

“So, Cole will ride with me, Evan, and Vans. Can Tony ride with you two?” Jessie asks Trent and Olivia.

“Sure. Come on Tony!” Trent calls out to his teammate, “We’re going to eat.”

“See you guys there.” Jessie says before walking to the car with Cole who takes one last look at the sky and sees the dark clouds getting closer. It’s fine. No big deal.

The Swallowtail Diner is one of the best places to get a good home cooked meal in Willowdale. The woman who opened it over fifty years ago, Ruth Swallowtail, was said to be able to make anyone’s day a million times better with just a single pancake. Of course, since her passing about twenty-five years ago, the food has declined in wow factor, but it still kept the wonderful cozy feeling. The group arrives and after getting permission from the host, push two of the tables together to form one long table for their group. Cole doesn’t pay much attention to where everyone sits as he takes his seat at the end closest to the door, not realizing he’s bouncing his leg.

“Cole? You good dude?” Cole’s eyes snap away from the door to make eye contact with Jessie.

“Y-Yeah! I’m good. Just a little worried about the storm supposed to come tonight, roads get slick.” Cole laughs nervously as the waiter comes to get everyone’s drink orders before leaving.

“If you’re sure.” Cole ignores how unconvinced Jessie sounds by looking at the menu, he doesn’t need to eat so he starts looking for the cheapest thing. After deciding his order, Cole joins in on the small talk about the table, most of which is about the game but a highlight is Trent and Tony bickering about each other’s sloppy plays before Olivia pulls out a playbook and explains how they sucked evoking laughter among the table. Cole makes a note to ask why she has a playbook, finally feeling himself start to relax and have fun, but that’s cut short by the familiar rumble of thunder being in hearing distance. Fuck.

“Huh. Guess it came sooner than my phone said.” Evan remarks nonchalantly, “So, you want to go over the homework you had me check Jessie?”

“Aw man I forgot I asked you to do that.” Jessie grumbles, “Fine. But Vans has to suffer too!”

“What? Why?” Vanessa almost yells from across the table.

“You’re the one who wanted to come here to study!” Jessie responds.

“Yeah but that was before we met Cole!” Vanessa turns to look at him, “Cole?”

Cole is pulled from his thoughts by Vanessa saying his name, “Huh? I’m sorry what?”

“You were totally zoned out. You okay?” She goes to put a hand on his shoulder but pulls it back when she gets shocked a little, “Ow. Zappy.” She laughs.

“Oh sorry.” Cole apologizes, his hand subconsciously resting on his neck. “I wonder where the food is?”

“I think it’ll be ready anytime.” Evan answers, looking just as concerned about him as Vanessa and Jessie do, but then he gets a thinking look on his face. “Cole, are you nervous about thunderstorms?”

Cole’s eyes widen, “W-What? No way! Why would I be afraid of- Shit!” Cole is cut off by a loud boom of thunder and a lightning flash causing the power to flicker which Cole is thankful for as he feels himself turn invisible as the power goes off and he quickly turns back as they flick back on. And when Cole looks around as the lights come on, his friends are all looking up at the lights.

“Everyone alright?” Trent asks the restaurant goers and everyone is okay.

“Cole. You’re shaking dude.” Jessie snaps his fingers to get his attention, “Focus on the snaps and breathe.”

Cole starts to calm down, “T-Thanks. Sorry guys.” He says, feeling self conscious.

“It’s okay Cole. You could have just said something.” Vanessa says with a small smile, “I think they got the stove and stuff working so we should get food soon.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.” Cole says, wanting to pull his hood up.

Vanessa frowns, “You didn’t eat lunch besides that smoothie. You need to eat something.” She simply sighs, not getting a response from the white haired boy. The waiter brings by everyone’s food a few minutes later, apologizing for the wait and for the power flicker.

Cole looks at the pancakes he ordered and feels Vanessa glancing at him so he starts to eat. Taking a bite before looking at his plate and pouring syrup on them. Cole doesn’t speak much the rest of dinner, flinching occasionally when the thunder outside gets loud. As everyone finishes their meal and the waiter starts bringing over checks. Cole is waiting for his bill, when he doesn’t get one. “Um. Sir? How much do I owe?” He asks the waiter who just smiles.

“The lady sitting next to you took care of your meal sir.” Cole looks at Vanessa who is fixing her hair bow.

“Vanessa you didn’t have to pay for my food.” Cole frowns, pulling out his wallet to give her what he owes.

“Put your wallet away. I invited you out with us so I’m gonna pay for the guests food.” She smiles sweetly and Cole sighs, putting his wallet away.

“Alright Vannie! We’re off.” Olivia says grabbing her purse and hanging on Trent’s arm, “We’re gonna take Tony home. Nice meeting you Cole.” She smiles and the three of them leave.

“You guys wanna go too?” Evan asks, mostly asking Cole.

“It doesn’t look that bad out now.” Jessie adds.

“Yeah we can go.” Cole gets up, legs a little wobbly, but no one comments. As the four of them walk outside, Evan tells them to wait there and he runs to bring his car around.

“Cole, what made you so scared of storms?” Jessie asks, getting elbowed by Vanessa.

“I don’t really want to talk about it, but it’s more the idea of getting shocked by lightning scares me.” Cole answers, pulling his hood up.

“Oh. Sorry.” Jessie rubs the back of his head as Evan pulls up in his car and the other three get inside. Jessie takes the front seat as Vanessa pulls Cole into the backseat. Cole leans against the window, he feels drained and for once he’s actually tired.

“Hey. Take me and Jessie home first.” Vanessa says leaning forward in the seat, “Cole looks ready to fall asleep, you can wake him up later and get his address.”

“Alright.” Evan starts to drive and immediately the rain picks up again, “Great.” He says dryly as he tries to see past the windshield wipers.

“You guys just wanna crash at my place?” Jessie asks as the car pulls up to a red light, “Mom won’t mind with the storm.”

“That might be a good idea.” Vanessa agrees, debating waking Cole up before deciding to let him sleep.

“Yeah I’ll text my dad when we get your place.” Evan says when the light turns green. He puts his foot on the gas and as the car starts to go through the intersection, the trio see headlights coming towards them, but none of them notice how fast the car is going due to their conversation and the heavy rain.

Cole feels light on his face and when he opens his eyes he’s blinded by the headlights of the coming vehicle, “Ow!” He sits up and rubs his eyes

“Cole? What’s wrong- Evan shit there’s a car coming!” Jessie yells, making Evan jump and throw the car in reverse on reflex, but his tires aren’t getting any traction.

“Evan do something!” Vanessa yells, pulling Cole towards her side of the car.

Cole’s eyes clear up as they’re screaming and they widen when the car comes into focus and without a second thought, he grabs the back of Evan’s seat and makes the car, and the people inside of it, intangible. He feels Vanessa curl into his shoulder thinking she’s about to die, but nothing happens. The oncoming car passes right through Evan’s car and the four of them as Cole feels a little sick keeping this much intangible at once.

Once the runaway car is down the street, Cole drops the effect and the trio look up from their brace for impact positions and look around. “What… Just happened?” Evan asks.

“There was totally a car about to hit us right?” Jessie says looking around.

“That was weird. Cole, are you okay?” Vanessa looks at the white haired teen who looks like he’s about to puke and trying to undo his seat belt. “Hey do you guys have a bag? Cole looks- What.” Vanessa sees Cole just vanish for a second and suddenly he’s outside of the car and throwing up in the road, “How did he do that?” She asks the two boys who saw him do it too. When Cole finishes puking up pancakes he straightens up and turns around to see his three friends all staring at him from the car with wide eyes.

“I can explain.” Cole says, knowing that tonight is about to be a long one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a cliffhanger? Next chapter is going to be fun and count as a Halloween special.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no post! Apologies for the late update I had planned to post this on Halloween but instead it's a late Christmas gift! Hope you all enjoy.

The ride to Jessie’s house is a quiet one. Cole can feel three pairs of eyes taking occasional glances at him as he is looking out of the window, none of them gave Cole the feeling they were mad at him, just uneasy and wanting to know the truth.

Jessie’s house is a nice sized two story, Cole is unable to tell with the rain and night sky but he thinks he is some kind of beige color. Evan parks the car and he just relaxes against the back of the driver’s seat and glances in the rearview mirror, Cole looking away when they make eye contact. “Is your mom asleep Jessie?” Evan asks, finally breaking the silence.

“She works in the morning so I’d imagine she is,” Jessie says unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car, waiting for everyone else to follow him inside. As Cole gets out, Vanessa walks past him to follow Jessie and Evan waits until Cole walks ahead of him to head to the door. Cole sighs knowing that they’re boxing him in if he decided to run, but he wasn’t planning to. If he wanted to leave he would just go invisible and fly away.

“Come on, we can go to my room.” Jessie whispers and leads the way down to his basement bedroom. It’s very spacious with the bed near the back wall which is painted red, a table with a tv resting on it, with a game console on one of the shelves across from the bed, and against the wall to the left of the bed next to the stairs is a nice desktop computer. Looking around Cole sees a door next to the tv that he guesses leads to a bathroom.

“You stay in the basement?” Cole asks, realizing that’s the first time he’s spoken since getting in the car, the trio all look at him and Cole guesses they realize that too.

“Uh, yeah. I used to have a room upstairs but I wanted a bigger space so I moved down here.” Jessie says, kicking off his shoes and flopping onto his bed.

“Cole.” Vanessa says, just standing next to Jessie’s bed and staring at him, “What are you?”

Cole feels knots form in his stomach as he looks at the floor before looking up to make eye contact with her. “Well… I’m a ghost. Plain and simple.”

“A g-ghost?” Vanessa replies, “But you look so normal!” She’s caught off guard by Cole chuckling a little.

“Ghost having transparent skin and black eyes is only in horror movies. Ghosts really can just walk around normally and no one would be none the wiser, granted they hadn’t seen the person when they were alive and heard they were dead.” Cole says, leaning against the wall.

“If you’re a ghost, how long have you been dead?” Jessie asks, sitting up, and by the look on Evan’s face, he was going to ask the same thing.

Cole takes a deep breath and he sits criss-crossed on the floor, “I died January 23rd, 2014. Five years ago.” He watches as the three of them move to sit on the floor as well, “My family and I only lived in town for about a year before I kicked the bucket. Was surprised the school still has my picture up in their memorial.”

“How... Did you die?” Evan asks, figuring someone had to ask the question.

Cole looks at Evan before staring at the floor and almost zoning out in a way, “Officially? My cause of death was freezing to death, but there’s a reason I don’t like the idea of being zapped by lightning.“ Cole takes a deep breath before pulling his hoodie and shirt off, his hair fluffing up a little when it comes off and Vanessa softly gasps. On the left side of Cole’s neck there is the faint mark of where something was stabbed into his neck and running from the spot are jagged lightning bolt markings that run along his collarbone, shoulder, and the left side of his chest. “I don’t know what was used on me, but I know it didn’t leave these bad marks on my actual body.” Cole says while putting his shirt and hoodie back on and when he looks at the trio, they all look varying degrees of upset.

“So someone killed you.” Jessie says, clenching his fists “Did they ever catch who it was?”

“Nope.” Cole says nonchalantly, “I don’t even know. I was walking home in a snowstorm, decided to cut through Maple Wood Park and I’m assuming someone snuck up behind me. Next thing I know I get zapped, fall unconscious in the snow, and by the time I woke up I was…” He gestures to himself.

“That’s, that’s horrible.” Vanessa says getting a little choked up. “What about your family!? Don’t they know you’re still here?”

Cole looks away, “No, they left town about two years ago. I wanted desperately to just show myself to them, especially my brother and sister, but I realized it would have just hurt them more. By the time I woke up as who I am now, I was dead. What good would it do them if their now dead family member showed up in your house talking about his dead body being buried in the snow? They’d probably just think they lost it.” Cole doesn’t realize he’s crying until a tear hits his hand, “Dammit. I made my peace with this!” He wipes his eyes.

“Cole…” Vanessa scoots over to him and pulls him into a hug, “I didn’t say it earlier because I was scared, but thank you.”

“For what?” Cole asks, body going stiff for a second before burying his face in her shoulder.

“You saved our lives! That car would have probably killed us if you hadn’t done whatever it was you actually did.” Vanessa says with a smile.

“It’s called intangibility.” Cole says sitting up, quickly wiping his eyes “Ghosts can basically make stuff pass through them if they want.”

“What else can you do?” Jessie asks, now interested.

“Well I can turn invisible.” And suddenly he vanishes.

“I know you’re still there cause I’m still hugging you.” Vanessa laughs before something pokes her nose and Cole reappears, “What else can you do?”

“Oh I can do this.” Cole pulls away from Vanessa and he just hovers above the floor, “I can float and even fly! I can go crazy fast too, almost flew through Evan’s car when I was following you guys today.” Cole’s eyes widen and he drops to the floor. Shit.

“Following us?” Evan asks, confused.

Cole embarrassingly admits about his day of following Jessie around the school that morning, “I kinda got in my own head while following your car to the coffee shop about how I was being a creep and you guys weren’t my friends, so I flew ahead, and was just gonna get my smoothie and leave, but then Vanessa invited me to sit with you...” He messes with the string of his hoodie.

“Oh my god you really were lonely.” Vanessa says, “Have you met any other ghosts?” She adds.

“A couple. No one from town. Usually a couple passing spirits, I still keep in touch with a nice older lady named Elizabeth I met once. And I swear, teachers seem more dead than most of the ghosts I’ve met.” Cole laughs, “But I am sorry for following you around.”

“Wait is that why I’ve randomly gotten cold today?” Vanessa asks.

“Yeah that’s something that can happen.” Cole laughs, “Wearing your sleeveless cheer uniform all day didn’t help either.” After Cole says that, everyone eventually goes quiet, he knows they’re all just processing in comfortable silence and with a sigh he stands up “Well, I’m sure you guys are tired from all the excitement tonight so I’ll see myself out and let you guys get some sleep.”

“You’re leaving?” Evan asks looking up.

“I figured it’d be easier to think about this if I wasn’t here? Not make you think I was anxious waiting?” Cole puts his hands in the pocket on the front of his hoodie.

“Cole…” Vanessa sighs, “We don’t want you to leave. Right guys?”

“Yeah, besides, don’t think you want to go out with the storm right? Supposed to be pretty bad.” Jessie says and almost as if on cue, there is a rumble that the group can hear from the basement.

“Okay maybe you have a point…” Cole sighs and just sits in Jessie’s chair. The group sits in silence for a few minutes before Cole glances over and sees the trio has somehow formed a cuddle pile with Jessie in the middle of them in his bed and he didn’t notice. “You guys heading to sleep?” Cole asks.

“Vanessa is, but we’re still awake.” Evan answers, resting against Jessie.

“You don’t have to stay in that chair dude.” Jessie says sitting up a little, “I know it’s kinda awkward right now, but it’s fine. Alright?”

“R-Right. I just kinda expected a lot more questions I guess? Not sure what you’d ask about though.” Cole blushes a little. He’s resisting the urge to just phase into the ground like he wants to.

“Okay. I got one.” Evan sits up and faces Cole, “Where do ghosts go? You said there is the occasional passing spirit you meet, but there are a lot of headstones in the graveyard.”

Cole tilts his head in thought, “Well. There’s another plane of existence, it probably has some ancient religious name, but ghosts nowadays just call it Ghost Town! It’s a madhouse most of the time which is why I like the living world.”

“Why call it a madhouse?” Jessie chimes in.

“Cause of the people who live there. Politicians, mostly. A few cult leaders, and quite a few serial killers. But then there are just normal people who have yet to move on. They’re kinda what keep serial killers from coming here.” Cole chuckles a little, relaxing as they make conversation and he doesn’t feel himself begin to float off the chair a little.

“They keep them there? Do they have ghost jail?” Jessie asks jokingly.

“Yes actually! And quite a few wardens to contain them. You’d be surprised what kind of stuff geniuses can make when they aren’t worried about risking dying again. It’s terrifying.” Cole says before laughing at Evan and Jessie’s slightly scared faces.

“How do you get to Ghost Town?” Evan asks, taking off his glasses to wipe them off really quick.

“You know that big building in the middle of the graveyard? The mausoleum?” Cole asks.

“The mausoleum? Yeah what about it?” Jessie answers.

“In the back wall there is a portal to Ghost Town we use to get there! We kinda just walk through it.” Cole says, now just comfortably floating around Jessie’s bedroom. “When did I start floating?”

“About ten minutes ago, but we don’t mind.” Evan smiles and Cole just shrugs and puts his arms behind his head.

“Ghost Town seems cool, but uh what happens if a living person tries to go through the portal?” Jessie says before yawning, making Cole chuckle.

“Guess you need to sleep huh? To answer you though, you’d collide with a stone wall, simple as that.” The floating boy says as he lowers to the floor, “Don’t worry, I’ll still be here when you wake up so go ahead and get some rest.”

“You better or Vanessa will find you.” Evan says taking off his glasses and laying on his side, which happens to also be on Jessie’s arm.

“Evan? Hey the light is- He’s already asleep.” Jessie sighs, “Cole can you turn the light off?”

“Sure.” Cole says getting up and flicking the light switch off, “Better?” He asks, turning around.

“Yeah thanks, you gonna be okay?” Jessie asks quietly.

“I’ll be alright, don’t worry.” Cole smiles when Jessie makes a noise of acknowledgement and falls asleep shortly after leaving Cole with his thoughts. He was expecting this night to end with him being told never to speak to any of his new friends again, but instead they didn’t seem to mind the fact he’s a ghost. Cole sits down against one of the walls in Jessie’s bedroom and feels himself start to grow tired, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

White. That is what clouds Cole’s vision as his eyes open and when he sits up he realizes he is sitting in the park currently covered by a blanket of snow that likes to spread across Willowdale in the winter season. When Cole finally stands up and brushes the snow off his clothes he tries to remember why he is in the park and asleep there for that matter. Cole then wonders what time it is due to the night sky hanging overhead, lit up by a few stars. Reaches for his phone in his pocket only to find it not in his jeans, the boy figures he must have dropped it and begins searching the snow but when he touches the snow he stops. The snow isn’t as cold as he recalls it usually being. He shakes his head and continues searching for his phone and pauses when he feels his hand brush across something fabric in the snow. Wondering if someone left a shirt in the park, Cole grabs it and pulls up a little and feels time freeze when he pulls a body out of the snow. His body.

With a gasp, Cole drops his body back into the snow and falls over backing away, bumping into a tree only to go through it a second later and realize he is on the other side of it. “What’s going on!?” Cole can’t help but ask aloud, the shock of everything sinking in and his head whips around when he hears a voice answer him.

“Poor boy. It is unfortunate, but your life has ended.” When Cole turns he sees a figure in dark robes with a hood hiding its face standing a few feet away.

“I’m d-dead?” Cole asks the figure while standing up on shaky legs.

“Yes.” The figure appears to be floating as it moves towards Cole’s body, “A young soul, lost far too soon… Truly a tragedy.”

Cole feels almost comforted as he sees the figure appear to wipe its face with the sleeve of the robes it wears, “And, are you the grim reaper?”

The figure turns to face him and lowers its hood, revealing the figure is only a skeleton before it puts its hood back up, “I am they who guide the dead.”

Cole slowly approaches the figure and stands next to it, looking down at his body and almost with a spark of two wires connecting Cole remembers what happened. He was at a party that ran late and took a shortcut through the park and he remembers someone grabbing him and something hitting his neck and once that clicks, his next thought sends him into a panic.

“M-My parents! My family? What are they…” Cole feels the fire in his stomach die out thinking about how they will react to him being gone.

“You may observe them, young one.” The reaper says, “I am merely to tell you where you must go if this realm is too painful. Go to the mausoleum and through the back wall. That will take you to where the restless souls prefer staying.” The reaper begins to walk off to the dark of the woods close to the park.

“W-Wait! What do I do now?” Cole asks, reaching to grab the reaper but his hand goes right through them.

“You merely live your afterlife. I am sorry life was so cruel to you.” And with that, the reaper vanishes as Cole falls onto his knees in the snow.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole’s eyes shoot open and as soon as he registers he is in Jessie’s bedroom he calms down and raises an eyebrow when he realizes he is alone. He goes to check his phone when he finds someone draped a blanket over him and with a small smile he sees it’s about 9 o’clock in the morning according to his phone’s clock and stretches before heading upstairs to find his trio of friends and a couple people he doesn’t recognize in the kitchen.

“Well look who is up!” Jessie says, noticing him first, “Cole, this is my mom Carmen and my little sister Lily.”

“Nice to meet you.” Cole says politely and sits at the kitchen table next to Vanessa who gives him a smile.

“Your hair looks like my grandpa’s!” Lily says with a giggle, “Are you old?” Cole doesn’t get the chance to respond,

“No he just dyes it, and don’t call him old he’s my age.” Jessie says with a playful poke to her shoulder.

“But you’re old Jessie, sixteen is older than dirt compared to me!” Lily says sticking her tongue out at her brother who glares.

Cole chuckles a little seeing the two remembering his brother and sister having similar moments of bickering only they’re closer in age then Jessie and Lily.

“You’re ten! That isn’t that much younger! What about mom? Is she old?” Jessie asks gesturing to his mother Carmen, Cole briefly wonders how someone can look as put together and ready for the day as she does for it only being 9AM.

“This answer is very important.” Carmen says looking at Lily expectantly.

“Mommy isn’t old! Ladies stop aging when they reach true beauty! Mommy stopped aging at twenty-nine!” Lily says as Jessie groans.

“That’s my girl, I taught you well. Cole, how many pancakes would you like?” She asks grabbing a spatula and milk from the fridge only for Jessie to lightly take it from her.

“Nu-uh. I brought my friends over without asking, I’m making breakfast.” He playfully shoos his mom out of the kitchen who almost argues but sighs and grabs her coffee before joining the group at the table.

Breakfast is lively between Lily and Jessie almost declaring war over the last pancake before Vanessa and Evan decide to split it causing Jessie to pout for the rest of the meal and Carmen asking Cole all the typical questions a mom asks when meeting their son’s new friend and despite the lies Cole has to tell, he doesn’t think once about the dream that plagued him the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope Cole's return has you interested for more! Next chapter will likely have him visiting Ghost Town so I hope you'll be excited for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts.


End file.
